DNA mutations found in a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that has a poor prognosis has led researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues to a better understanding of how the cancer develops and how it might be treated. The research findings appear in the March 6, 2008, issue of Science.

“Discovery raises hopes of drug for PMT,” is the headline in The Daily Telegraph . The newspaper article reports that scientists studying the condition have “isolated a protein linked to the condition, raising hopes that a drug could be developed to block its effects”. The research “may also have benefits for epilepsy sufferers”, the newspaper says.

Cardium Therapeutics announced positive findings from its preclinical study being conducted by researchers at Emory University, which demonstrated highly efficient uptake of DNA-based vectors within acutely ischemic myocardium (heart muscle lacking sufficient blood flow as a result of blockage of the coronary arteries).

An article published in the March 12 issue of JAMAreports that monthly personal contact with a weight loss counselorhelped weight-loss program participants sustain their weight loss.Often just a brief 10-15 minute phone conversation, this personalcontact intervention proved more effective than a Web-basedintervention or a self-directed program.

Lawmakers should adopt the “modest plan” proposed by U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and others to form a bipartisan commission to address issues related to the long-term financial stability of Medicare and other entitlement programs, a San Francisco Chronicle editorial states.

Mental health services and community-based services, such as personal care attendants, are unavailable to many American Indians in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, according to report recently released by the Native American Disability Law Center, Indian Country Today reports.

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses House approval of mental health parity legislation, insurers’ request for Medicare Advantage marketing regulations, and House and Senate approval of fiscal year 2009 budget resolutions in this week’s “

Summaries of developments related to budgetary issues in Florida, Maine, Maryland and New York appear below.Florida: The Florida Senate on Thursday approved about $500 million in cuts to the state’s $70 billion fiscal year 2009 budget, including reductions in Medicaid funding, the

Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are teaming up with two university hospitals in California to find new ways to make kidney transplants more tolerable for children.Emory and Children’s will partner with UCLA’s Mattel ChildrenÃ-s Hospital in Los Angeles and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford in Palo Alto for a study of kidney transplants in children.

Men’s pride in sexual performance may help the fight against increasing obesity, according to internationally regarded expert on obesity, men’s health and ageing Professor Gary Wittert.”It’s becoming well known that there are high levels of obesity in Australian men and that this has significant consequences for chronic diseases, both physical and psychological,” Professor Wittert says.